Installing your veranda is just the first step to creating a garden space that you will want to use as much as possible. The next stage is to concentrate on the surrounding landscaping, to make sure you have a pleasant and enjoyable view to look out on all year round.

Your veranda essentially stands between your house and your garden, but that doesn't mean you should view it as a solid structure. It can work well to bring elements of the garden onto your veranda by clever use of pots and troughs to blend the two in together.

Curved borders look wonderful running along the edge of your veranda, but be sure to leave adequate space to step down from the veranda itself onto your lawn if you have one. Take care to include beautifully scented flowers as well, which will flower at separate times throughout the year. This way you will have a constantly changing view and array of beautiful colours to appreciate as you sit on your veranda and soak up the sun.

Think about lighting as well, since this will make your veranda more appealing to use at night during the warmer summer months. One of the best options to buy nowadays is solar lighting, which means you don't have to worry about putting in wiring, or doing anything other than simply pushing the lights into the ground exactly where you want them. A lot of solar lights come on spikes which make for quick and easy installation. Plus they won't cost you anything in electricity!

You can also get solar lights which are designed to look more like rocks, which can look good when placed in among the plants you have put into your borders.

When you are thinking about landscaping around your veranda you should also bear in mind how everything will look from the garden, as well as what it will look like if you were sitting on your veranda. Achieving a well designed landscaping project depends on thinking about all the angles.

Depending on what styles appeal to you most - not to mention what height your garden is in relation to your veranda - there are a variety of styles you could select for your landscaping project, from the most formal 'boxy' looking designs to the more relaxed, curved and natural looking ones.

It helps to sketch out plenty of ideas before you actually start digging your garden up and creating the borders and planting that you think you will want. Sketch your house and veranda to scale and then draw in a number of different styles, depending on the amount of garden you have and the kind of planting you want to introduce. Some people like to have huge borders which incorporate several different levels, creating a kind of wall between the veranda and the garden, while others like to keep things as simple as possible.

However you landscape the area around your veranda, it's important to remember that it should always appeal to your tastes and desires, to make the area as pleasing as possible.